Towcester Cheesecakes is a traditional English recipe (from the East Midlands) for a classic individual pastry tartlets with a curd cheese, egg and currant filling. The full recipe is presented here and I hope you enjoy this classic English version of: Towcester Cheesecakes.
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These pastry cheesecakes are curd tarts assembled in shortcrust pastry shells. Known as Towcester cheesecakes or Northamptonshire cheesecakes (and originating in the East Midlands of England), they possess with similarity to Yorkshire curd tarts, these little bites are easy to make and perfect with a pot of tea.
Ingredients:
For the shortcrust pastry:
230g Plain flour
115g Butter, chilled
⅛ tsp Salt
4-5 tbsp Water, ice cold
For the cheesecake batter:
175g Curd cheese
50g Butter
2 large eggs
85g Caster sugar
100g Currants
finely-grated Zest of 1 lemon
¼ tsp Almond extract
½ tsp freshly-grated nutmeg
Method:
For the shortcrust pastry: Sift the flour and salt into a bowl. Add the flour, diced and rub into the flour with your fingertips until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs.
Add 3 tablespoons of cold water to the bowl and using a blunt-ended knife mix the water into the flour and butter blend, adding more water, as needed, a teaspoon at a time until the ingredients come together as a dough.
Press the dough pieces together, turn out onto a work surface and knead briefly. Shape into a disc, cover in clingfilm and chill in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.
In the meantime, pre-heat your oven to 180℃.
If the cheese curd is a little liquid drain it through a fine-meshed sieve before putting it into a mixing bowl and beating with a wooden spoon until smooth. If it remains lumpy push it through a sieve. Mix in the lemon zest along with the currants and almond extract.
Combine the butter, sugar and eggs into a small saucepan. Heat gently, stirring constantly, until the butter has melted and the sugar has dissolved. If the mixture begins to scramble take the pan off the heat and plunge the base into a bowl of cold water to stop the cooking process, then beat the ingredients vigorously before returning the pan to the heat if necessary.
Pour the contents of the pan into the cheese mixture and stir until thoroughly combined.
Once the 30 minutes resting is up, roll out the pastry on a lightly-floured work surface until thin. Cut out 18 circles to fit the wells of your baking tins (patty pans are ideal) and gently press the circles into the wells. Prick each round of pastry with a fork. (You will need to re-roll the offcuts to get 18 circles.)
Divide the cheesecake batter between the pastry cases, filling each one almost to the top and dust each one with nutmeg. Bake for approximately 20 minutes until golden and set.
Remove from the oven and allow to cool in the tins for 10 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack to cool completely.
